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Yoga can feel a little overwhelming at first. All those pretzely positions seem impossible! There is even some confusion about what yoga really is. Is it an exercise program or a spiritual path? Granted, there is a lot of territory to explore and many options to consider. Personally, I hope you don’t turn away before you discover what yoga can mean to you and your life.

To make your introduction to yoga a little easier, here is a yoga vocabulary cheat sheet of sorts. This is NOT meant to be an in depth explanation of yoga. Instead, it will hopefully just help you navigate your introduction to yoga experience. Later, when and if the time is right for you, you can learn more by drilling down in any area that beckons you!

At a certain point, embracing the language of yoga can be part of the joy and charm of the yoga lifestyle. For some, it is a lifestyle that influences what you eat, how you move, and how you see the world. Continue reading →

It’s not too hard to know what is good for us. We can study nutrition and learn about the benefits of exercise. Many are pretty good at doing all the right things – for a while…. Whenever you make a good choice, obviously, that’s good. However, if you really want the BIG PAYBACK of healthy living, daily practice is the ticket.

Here are just a few ideas to make the leap from sporadic good choices to a healthy way of life! Continue reading →

If you go one step at a time, you can succeed at your strength training goals!

Below are just the basics! Sometimes too many details can be overwhelming when you’re just getting started. Hopefully, once you start, you’ll love how you feel. Then, you can dig into the details of each topic as you need. In the meantime, let’s get you started!Continue reading →

We all know that we SHOULD eat well and exercise consistently year after year. And, if you’ve studied fitness even just a little, you know of all the mind boggling benefits you’ll enjoy for that consistency. BUT… still it’s sometimes hard to stay focused.

Setting goals and regularly reviewing progress against those goals can help you stay on track. To set goals, you need to know your starting point and you need to be able to evaluate your progress from that starting point. Here are some different ways you can create a goal setting and tracking system that works for you!

A support group is a gathering of people who share a common health concern or interest. A fitness support group focuses on helping its members achieve their fitness goals which typically include physical, emotional and mental aspects. Formats for support groups can vary. They can include in-person meeting, online sharing and / or telephone support.

Cultural diversity awareness. Environmental impact awareness. Social justice awareness. Ecosystem awareness. Financial impact awareness. I’ve cared about and worked in many of these areas. But, I’m still amazed at the impact that self-awareness brings to every single thing we do in life including our fitness work.

Plenty of science proves that a fit person lives longer and has a lower risk of chronic diseases, illnesses and accidents. Fitness protects bone mass, improves sleep, reduces depression and anxiety, boosts morale and self-esteem, and increases the overall quality of life. As fitness increases, so does strength, agility, balance, coordination, power, reaction time, and speed. It changes your body. Your cardiorespiratory system strengthens. You can better maintain your ideal weight. Your resting metabolism rate increases. And, and, and…. I could go on! And, be forewarned, I probably will in future posts! J

But those aren’t the benefits of fitness that are on my mind right now. Believe it or not, there is an additional set of benefits that I am really drawn to because they support your efforts to be your best self!

I know, I know, there are lots of reasons why people are fixated on their weight. Yes, overweight people have more health problems than people who are at their ideal weight. Yes, there is a social stigma against overweight people. And, yes, self-esteem often does track weight. I get all that.

But, focusing too much on the scale can distract you from finding your way to your most healthy self. A person obsessing about weight might make bad decisions in desperate attempts to just see that number on the scale go down. Even if you wouldn’t go towards an eating disorder, you could still miss the mark in the long run. Eating too few calories signals to your body that it is time to kick into starvation mode which really creates havoc! Missing key nutrients in your diet can cause a multitude of problems. Not all exercise regimes promote ideal health. I’ve met many a person who gets so discouraged scale-watching that they throw in the towel and completely give up.

What works better is a focus on fitness and health and strength and flexibility and endurance and stamina and a positive outlook. Get the picture?

If your decisions about eating, exercise and attitude support your long term fitness and health goals, your body will naturally get to its right size. So, let’s back off on setting weight goals.

In fact, THROW OUT YOUR SCALE!

Instead, here are some alternative goals that might work better for you. Keep in mind that this journey is a process and it’s a lifestyle for a lifetime. So, we’ll be learning more and more details as we go along.